Samyang/Rokinon 14mm

[Bryan]

Currently dreaming of possessing one of these. I don't mind manual focus, and a crop factor focal length of 21mm on the NEX 6 would be fun, perhaps more fun than useful....

 

Any arguments for/against?

 

 

[Linda]

I think I had this for the Canon mount. For ME,I found manual focus difficult.But if you don't mind,people that have the Rokinon lenses love them.I had an 8mm fisheye for Nikon years ago and loved it.

 

L

[John Allison J]

i have the Samyang 8 mm fisheye for MFT - pretty well made and I bought it on a bit of whim. I don't use it much  mainly because it's tricky to use this focal length but more because I have moved to Fujifilm for all but "action" & wildlife. I think i'll dust it off and have another play.

[Inchiquin]

a crop factor focal length of 21mm on the NEX 6 would be fun, perhaps more fun than useful....

 

Years ago, when there was no such thing as a wide-angle zoom, I had a Vivitar 21mm which I found surprisingly useful.

 

Alan

[Robert Brook]

It's a wonderful lens (barrel distortion aside):

 

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/532-samyang14f28eosff

 

No it's not. It's a terrible lens:

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/samyang/14mm-f28.htm

 

On a cropped sensor what would be the advantage of this lens over an 11-16mm Tokina?

 

http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/379-tokina_1116_28_canon

 

http://casualsnapper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/nex-7-with-tokina-11-16mm-28.html

 

This lens is so good that I happily use it on an FX camera at 16mm (mainly on a 5:4 crop to which cuts out corner softness). It is noticably sharper than the Nikkor 20mm prime - although that lens has other very attractive features.

[John Mitchell]

Bryan, I've heard good things about this lens. Video shooters especially seem to really like it.

 

Personally,I would go with the Sony 10-18 instead. It gets some very good reviews, and it's stabilized, which maybe not be all that important with a wide angle lens but it's nice to have. Also, the 10-18 is compatible with the NEX-6's hybrid AF system, plus it's lighter and not as bulky the Rokinon. Don't know what the price difference is between these two lenses in your part of the Empire, though.

[Bryan]

Thanks for the thoughts folks, hadn't considered the Sony 10-18, which is certainly worth thinking about.

[Ed Rooney]

If I do sell off my Nikons, I may get that Sony 10-18. I'm not a guy who shoots everything with a super-wide, but in a crowded, vertical city like New York, we need one. I was shooting last week with the Nikon 14-24.  http://fineartamerica.com/featured/south-pool-and-towers-ed-rooney.html?newartwork=true

 

(This is in fact the South Pool, and this is now the correct link. The copies of my post and link, well, I'm not sure about those. Sorry.)

[Linda]

If I do sell off my Nikons, I may get that Sony 10-18. I'm not a guy who shoots everything with a super-wide, but in a crowded, vertical city like New York, we need one. I was shooting last week with the Nikon 14-24.  http://fineartamerica.com/featured/north-pool-and-towers-ed-rooney.html

Great shot. Tried to LIKE it but I wasn't signed in to FAA and don't have my password with me. :-)

 

I had that lens for a short time and loved it.

 

And yes that was me in the ward bitching to high heaven,LOL!

 

L

[Bill Kuta]

I have the 10-18mm and it's a sweet lens--sharp, well-behaved, good build, nice size.

 

Here's a lightbox of shots taken at the 10mm end:

 

www.alamy.com/lbx.asp?1175544

 

All shots were put through LR5 lens profiling, and some through the Upright function (or similar manual adjustments). Some were cropped a little beyond the cropping resulting from the other adjustments, but not much.

 

The shots in the lightbox were taken on an NEX-6, but I'm currently using the lens on an A3000.

[Ed Rooney]

Looks good, Bill. I was going to mention that you owned and liked that 10-18, but I figured you might drop in yourself. 

 

Well, you almost liked it, Linda. I'll try to slip you half my bread tonight. You don't mind a little green mold, do you? Is tonight the riot or is that tomorrow night? 

 

 

I see now that you left a comment, Linda . . . and a very nice picture of you. 

[Bill Kuta]

or do a search on "Bill Kuta Trolley Museum." All those shots were taken with the 10-18mm on the A3000, various focal lengths--but mostly at either 10mm or 18mm, which I've seen I tend to do with this lens. Some of the later shots of trolleys at the station were in-between focal lengths.

[Bryan]

Some inspirational shots there Ed and Bill, showing what can be done with a wide lens!

 

My problem with the Sony 10-18 is that it means a further buy into the Sony crop frame system, and while I think that's the way to go, I'm not sure that Sony does. I'd like to see a proper fully featured replacement for the NEX 6 and 7 before committing, i.e. level indicator and high res viewfinder, possibly some weather proofing, GPS, improved auto focus and a new sensor. Looking at the rumours the next camera appears to be lower cost version of the A6000.

 

The Samyang is a full frame lens, so it can be used with either format.

[Linda]

Looks good, Bill. I was going to mention that you owned and liked that 10-18, but I figured you might drop in yourself. 

 

Well, you almost liked it, Linda. I'll try to slip you half my bread tonight. You don't mind a little green mold, do you? Is tonight the riot or is that tomorrow night? 

 

 

I see now that you left a comment, Linda . . . and a very nice picture of you. 

Awwww shucks,you really know how to get the +1's!     

[John Mitchell]

Some inspirational shots there Ed and Bill, showing what can be done with a wide lens!

 

My problem with the Sony 10-18 is that it means a further buy into the Sony crop frame system, and while I think that's the way to go, I'm not sure that Sony does. I'd like to see a proper fully featured replacement for the NEX 6 and 7 before committing, i.e. level indicator and high res viewfinder, possibly some weather proofing, GPS, improved auto focus and a new sensor. Looking at the rumours the next camera appears to be lower cost version of the A6000.

 

The Samyang is a full frame lens, so it can be used with either format.

 

Bryan, I think that the only way to get all those features that you crave is to carry around a wardrobe of different camera bodies, which of course is what Sony would like. Adding and subtracting stuff with each new model seems to be one of their main marketing ploys -- i.e. they always have a new carrot to dangle from the stick.

 

To be fair, though, most camera manufacturers started doing this when autofocus film cameras came out. I remember that in the days of manual focus cameras even the cheapest models had a relatively full set of features. Then suddenly you had to "upgrade" in order to get a model with a DOF preview button or a metal lens mount, both of which had been standard at one time. Corporations will be corporations, I guess.

[Bryan]

 

 

Bryan, I think that the only way to get all those features that you crave is to carry around a wardrobe of different camera bodies, which of course is what Sony would like. Adding and subtracting stuff with each new model seems to be one of their main marketing ploys -- i.e. they always have a new carrot to dangle from the stick.

 

To be fair, though, most camera manufacturers started doing this when autofocus film cameras came out. I remember that in the days of manual focus cameras even the cheapest models had a relatively full set of features. Then suddenly you had to "upgrade" in order to get a model with a DOF preview button or a metal lens mount, both of which had been standard at one time. Corporations will be corporations, I guess.

 

You're probably right John, but I do have a concern that Sony appears to see the smaller sensor mirrorless range as being only suitable for amateur use, and they may be pushing their FF bodies in preference at the higher end of the market. I guess Canon took a similar view when they introduced a mirrorless camera without an EVF, and I suspect got burned as a result. Fuji appear to be leading the field, but I don't have the stomach/cash for another system change at present.

[John Mitchell]

 

 

 

Bryan, I think that the only way to get all those features that you crave is to carry around a wardrobe of different camera bodies, which of course is what Sony would like. Adding and subtracting stuff with each new model seems to be one of their main marketing ploys -- i.e. they always have a new carrot to dangle from the stick.

 

To be fair, though, most camera manufacturers started doing this when autofocus film cameras came out. I remember that in the days of manual focus cameras even the cheapest models had a relatively full set of features. Then suddenly you had to "upgrade" in order to get a model with a DOF preview button or a metal lens mount, both of which had been standard at one time. Corporations will be corporations, I guess.

 

You're probably right John, but I do have a concern that Sony appears to see the smaller sensor mirrorless range as being only suitable for amateur use, and they may be pushing their FF bodies in preference at the higher end of the market. I guess Canon took a similar view when they introduced a mirrorless camera without an EVF, and I suspect got burned as a result. Fuji appear to be leading the field, but I don't have the stomach/cash for another system change at present.

 

 

Yes, it's too bad that we can't design our own cameras and print them out with a 3-D printer. Perhaps that day will come.

 

Sony is full of surprises, though, you never know what they are going to push next.

 

I guess this is the lower cost version -- sans EVF -- of the A6000 that you were referring to. Perhaps there will be an A6100 with a higher res EVF. Maybe they will bring back the spirit level as well. It's a cool feature, but I have to admit that I hardly ever use it with my NEX-6. Old habits can be tough to break.

[Duncan_Andison]

Currently dreaming of possessing one of these. I don't mind manual focus, and a crop factor focal length of 21mm on the NEX 6 would be fun, perhaps more fun than useful....

 

Any arguments for/against?

 

I think you'll find it a good lens for the Nex. 21mm FF focal length is really good, not to wide and excellent for architecture for creating exaggerated lines. Love the 14 for the Fuji.

 

With the Nex you have good focus peaking so the manual side of things would be fine. Weight? should be ok, cradle the lens in hand... sorted.

 

Did I mention that the 21mm FF focal length is great :-) 

[DDoug]

This review shows the Samyang/Rokinon/Walimex 12mm to be quite sharp but prone to significant chromatic aberration:

http://www.lonelyspeck.com/rokinon-12mm-f2-0-ncs-cs-review/

 

"Chromatic aberration is also apparent at all f/numbers as magenta and green fringed highlights. A crop of the above image in a high contrast area shows a couple pixel wide magenta and green fringing around high contrast areas. Personally, I don’t mind chromatic aberration because it’s so easily corrected in post processing with Adobe Lightroom (and other RAW editors) but I know some photographers would probably like to see better performance here. It seems like chromatic aberration correction tends to be low on the priority list for Rokinon / Samyang because most of their lenses tend to perform similarly in this regard."

[Bryan]

Thanks Duncan and Don for your thoughts.

 

The 12mm Samyang for crop frame looks to be very interesting, I do like a sharp lens ( or rather hate lenses that aren't) and small is good, so this is a real possibility at a reasonable price.